He Still Watches Over him
by Neverstop13
Summary: " 'He was tall and had black hair. And his eyes were green, mom, you should've seen them! They looked like the sea' His own eyes begin to brighten at the thought. Sally looks over the pool, searching for this 'lifeguard'. Could it really be him? And if it was, does this mean he was still watching out for Percy?" A fatherly/son one-shot set before The Lightning Thief.


The sun beat down feverishly on the pale concrete, where water splashes and sizzles, and its coolness gone. It was high and big in the sky, the clouds gone as if they were afraid of its blinding rays, as if they thought they would evaporate if they went anywhere near it. The heat was so unbearably hot, that it felt as though there was no cure for it, which is why people were fleeing to their community pools. Little kids scream as they splash in the water, laughing with delight. Their parents would normally sit and read in the shade, or try to get a tan on their pale skin, due to staying inside all day, but that meant near-death in this situation. Even they float in the water with their kids.

All pool chairs were free of people, with beach bags, towels, pool toys, and sunscreen laying on it. Every umbrella was open, casting a shade over the concrete where your bare feet burned at the touch.

So many voices overlap each other, in laughing and scolding to not leave the pool. But one shouts out over the rest.

"Perseus Jackson!" One mother calls. "Do _not_ run!"

"But _mom!_" A little voice responds. The boy stops and stomps one foot and he turns around to face her. "I wanna _go_," he stretches the word on and on and on…

"I know you do, but you have to be patient. Besides, I don't want you tripping and falling and hurting yourself and end up not going to the pool. Would you like that to happen instead?" The young woman with curly brown hair says as she puts her hands on her hips. She wore a two-piece bathing suit, but had a cover-up around her waist, a floppy hat on her head and dark sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.

The boy, Percy, sighs, his shoulders leaning forward in defeat and he stares at the ground. He shifts his feet uncomfortably and says a little stubbornly, "No,"

His mom smiles and ruffles his black hair that was already messy and she leans down in front of him. "Don't be upset, Percy, I'm just trying to have us both have fun."

A smile splits across Percy's face and he begins to bounce on his feet. "So can I go into the pool now?"

"First you need sunscreen or else your skin is going to hurt whenever I hug you," His mom smiles back as she digs around her leather brown beach bag and pulls out a bottle of sunscreen.

Percy looks as though he's impatient, but then he presses his lips together and nods. "Okay," His mother suspects that this means he has learned his lesson on to be patient so that he doesn't get hurt.

Sally Jackson, his mom, pops open the lid and squirts the pale lotion onto her fingers and he stands there and giggles when the bottle makes a "farting sound" as the sunscreen comes out of the bottle. Sally smirks up at him and then rubs her hands together, spreading the sunscreen, and then applying it to his pale skin.

Percy stands there, his arms out, firmly planting his feet to the concrete so she won't knock him over by rubbing the lotion on so hard. Occasionally, he looks over and he watches the pool. Not necessarily the people playing in the pool, but the pool itself. Like his eyes analyze the waves in the water, and they glaze over as if he can imagine himself running to it and jumping into the water.

Sally watches him while glancing at where she's rubbing the sunscreen on him. She knew that he has always been fascinated with water, and that scares her just a little bit, because she knows _why_ he is, and he doesn't.

Every time she looks at him, she's reminded of his father, and a part of her wishes that he was here with her and helping her take care of Percy. But she knows he can't because he's not normal, and there are more important things he has to do. Sometimes she tries to tell herself that he's only overseas for a business trip and that it'll be soon that he'll come back.

But then she's reminded that that's ridiculous and that he'll never come back. Sometimes she wonders if he watches Percy sometimes, helps him, guides him; it's hard to say, but sometimes she also gets that feeling on the back of her neck like someone's watching her. But then she'll turn around, and there's no one there and Sally is convinced that it's only a part of her imagination.

Percy turns back to look at her and his expression is solemn, like he's no longer impatient, like just looking at the water calmed him down.

Sally wasn't surprised by this, because she had seen this before. But she was surprised by how much the water affected him. She didn't think it would be this strong.

"Okay, you're all set," Sally cups his face with her hands and she kisses his forehead after all the sunscreen is invisible. "Let me go get us a seat, though,"

Percy nods and presses his lips together, the ends of his mouth curving up into an amiable smile. Sally takes his hand and they walk around the perimeter of the pool and find an empty seat in the shade beside the pool. Sally puts the bags on it and she wipes off the leaves on the pool chair.

"Mom, you forgot the blue food," Percy says.

Sally takes a quick look around and realizes that that one element is missing. "You're right. I'll go back and get it; you just stay right here, okay?"

Percy nods and he stands under the shade.

"Promise me you won't go anywhere? Not even going into the pool,"

He nods again, his eyes wide and naïve.

"Okay, I trust you alone for a couple minutes, until I get back." Sally says as she begins to walk back to the parking lot, the keys to the pool gate and her car in her hand.

Percy nods for yet a third time before she points a finger at him and then is gone.

He stands under the shade for a couple seconds, in his blue flip-flops and blue swim shorts, his small and skinny chest bare.

He stares out into the water, for once looking at all the people that are splashing and enjoying the cool water that he wishes he was in right now.

There are little kids—about his age and some younger—struggling to paddle through the water even in floaties. He is still solemn, just staring at them, wondering how they can't swim, when he can. For all his life, he has realized that he loves being in water, because for some reason, he feels as though he's in a separate world, and it makes him happy. As happy as he is when he's with his mom.

Percy feels like someone's watching him and he looks at the chair across the pool, where a bright red umbrella is hanging over it and there's a man sitting back in the chair. He has sunglasses on, where black locks of hair are tumbling over their rim. And he's wearing a white t-shirt with a red cross on it and red swim shorts. Percy can tell that he is the lifeguard watching over this community pool.

But what makes Percy curious is that the guard seems to be staring right at him, as if he's done something wrong, even when he hasn't gotten into the water yet.

The man turns his head to the side, looking away from him, and Percy looks back to the water.

The waves lap and he gets a funny feeling in his fingertips, and it spreads throughout his body; he wants to be in that water and feel it rushing around him.

He feels something hot beneath his feet and he looks down to find that, without thinking, he had slipped off his flip-flops. He wiggles his toes and lets them touch the concrete again.

Percy tilts his head up to look at the water.

Then he runs and jumps into the pool.

The lifeguard sees a fast figure in his peripheral vision. He looks back over to see that kid with black hair and blue swim shorts running to the water. He feels a jolt run through him, a stronger sense then what he's been feeling since he got here. He straightens in his white plastic chair and watches the kid as he jumps into the pool, the grin already on his face. The guard can't help but smile, and he rubs his shoulder against his chin, where there's dark stubble lining his jaw, as if to wipe off the smile.

Where the boy landed, there's waves echoing out, spreading out in a circle, and bubbles reaching the surface, but he hasn't resurfaced.

The guard keeps watching, the noises of the other kids and parents beginning to being ignored by his ears as he focuses on that one boy.

The lifeguard hadn't come here to be a "lifeguard". He thought, for a while, that this boy would be his son.

But he still hasn't resurfaced, and the thought snaps in his mind, reminding him that neither he nor Sally had visited here with floaties. He begins to wonder if this boy can even swim or not.

The lifeguard's suddenly on his feet and he slips his sunglasses off, revealing his bright green eyes, and he comes out from under the umbrella. He's barefoot but the heat doesn't bother him. He cautiously walks up to the edge of the pool, where the water is spraying up from when a kid splashes his mother.

He's glad because he's finally able to stretch his legs from sitting in that chair the entire day (but he guesses he's used to that on his throne), but he's nervous and frightened because as he looks into the water, he can't find the boy. He keeps looking through the waves, making the vision of whatever's underneath bend and wiggle.

But that boy isn't there.

His chest rises and falls quicker and he begins to feel something he'd never felt before except when in war.

It was called panic.

And fear.

He side-steps, possibly a move he knew too much, and he walks around the edge of the pool. Soon, his eyebrows furrow with each step, and that familiar black hair isn't spotted.

The waves from when he had jumped in were gone, and he so was he.

He hears a car-beeping noise and looks up to find Sally beginning to return to the pool.

On instinct, the lifeguard took off his shirt and he dove into the pool, the water slamming against his face and body, but his entire body still dry. He had to turn off the will to keep his body dry, and become wet so as not to scare the mortals.

But then he focuses his mind onto being able to see perfectly clear in the water, and once he was near the bottom, he stops, floating, and looks around. He didn't have to hold his breath, but he still had to make his body wet.

Then all of the panic and fear vanishes, and loving pride consumes him. He couldn't believe he didn't think or realize this in the first place, because he has finally found Percy.

He's the boy who's sitting at the bottom of the pool, smiling up at the surface of the water.

Percy looks around, finding it amazing how he can still see clearly and he can breathe almost perfectly fine underwater. He feels that energy as if its running right under his skin, and he feels the water tugging on his hair.

He looks around and then sees that lifeguard from earlier, and he's also underwater, and no bubbles are coming out of his mouth.

Percy starts shaking his head, and he tries to say, "It's okay, I'm fine," but then water rushes through his mouth.

The lifeguard dips his head and he continues swimming towards Percy, whom begins to straighten and stand at the bottom of the pool.

Up close, Percy can see the bright green eyes and it reminds him of the color of the sea. He swims towards the lifeguard, whom holds out his arms towards Percy.

But then Percy realizes that this lifeguard thinks that he's in need for help. Percy frowns and begins to swim away, pushing backwards. The lifeguard's eyes widen, and Percy feels his head hit against something behind him, and his vision, once clear, but now blurry.

The lifeguard is now panicking again and he swims faster and further, making the water push him towards the boy—his boy. He takes Percy's body, which is slowly growing limp, and once he gets a hold of Percy, he swims up to the surface. His hand cups Percy's head, where he had hit it on the wall of the pool, and he kicks his feet, then making the water push him upward. They break through the surface, and the lifeguard keeps his hand pressed to Percy's head, allowing the water to continue healing the injury.

Percy's eyes had been closed, but then they slowly open as the lifeguard sets Percy on the step of the pool. The lifeguard continues floating in the water, the boy's feet softly hitting his chest from the small push of the waves.

Percy coughs up water and he finds everyone staring back at him with wide eyes, but then he glares at the lifeguard.

"What was that for?! I was perfectly fine down there!"

"I-I'm sorry," the lifeguard stammered, suddenly nervous because Percy is talking to him. "You—you hit your head, I had to save you. It's my job," he says that last part in a deep voice.

Percy opens his mouth to say an angry retort, but then he thought back to what his mother told him: that even if someone might've seemed to do a bad thing, in their position, they thought they were doing a good thing. And all you can do is forgive them for that.

So Percy sighs and he pouts a little, because he can't help but still feel a little mad.

"Thanks," he grumbles.

The lifeguard still has his hand on Percy's shoulder, and his green eyes brighten. "Are you—are you okay?"

Percy nods. "I'm fine,"

"Are you sure? You hit your head pretty hard."

He just shrugs this time.

The lifeguard looks around. "Is your…" he swallows through the lump in his throat. "Is your mom around?"

"She had to go get the blue food from our car,"

The lifeguard is slightly confused. He tilts his head, his brow furrowing. "Blue…food?"

Percy nods. "I only eat blue food,"

"Why is that?" he asks and he doesn't have to kick his feet in the water anymore because the water's strength is holding him up just fine.

"Because blue is my favorite color," Percy says as if he's proud of this and he tilts his head back a little.

He's about to laugh at this, because it's so ironic, but then there's a clanking noise and he looks up to find Sally putting the key into the large black gate to return into the pool. She's holding a bag filled with a variety of blue food.

Percy looks back and the lifeguard lets go of his shoulder. "Hey, there she is. She told me not to leave or get into the pool. Hey, do you think you could—" Percy turns back to the lifeguard, expecting to ask for him to help with an excuse, but the man with the eyes of the sea is gone.

"Percy!" He hears his mother scold behind him.

He looks back, still sitting on the step of the pool, his legs dangling in the water.

Sally jogs to him carrying the Ziploc bag. "I thought I told you not to get into the pool! What if you had drowned or-or gotten hurt?!" She says in an exasperated tone as she stands behind him, staring down at his wide and innocent eyes that are staring back up at her.

But she knows that that's impossible. She knows that Percy _can't_ drown, whether he wanted to or not. All he knows is to swim and be alive in the water. He knows because he's his father's son.

Percy turns back around to the pool ahead of him. He searches the entire pool, looking for the lifeguard, for that black hair, for those bright red shorts.

"But—but—" he stammers, but he can't find him anywhere. He turns his head from side-to-side, making sure he saw everyone. But it was no use. He was completely gone so he turns back to his mother. "Mom, I'm okay,"

"You are _now_, but something different could've happened, and I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."

"But he was watching me," Percy says calmly.

Sally blinks in surprise. "Wh-what? _Who_ was watching you?"

"The lifeguard. He was…um…teaching me how to swim," Percy lies as he gives her a toothy grin. He doesn't ever lie to his mom, but it wasn't a complete lie. That's what lifeguards do, and he _had_ helped Percy.

Sally knows he's lying. She knows that he could swim even before he could walk. But she just shakes her head and decides to let it go.

"I promise mom, he was…um, looking out for me, I guess?" He raises his shoulders.

"Just don't go into the water without me watching, okay?"

Percy nods. "But the lifeguard was watching; I was safe,"

"Who did you say this lifeguard was again?"

He licks his lips and then shrugs, because he really doesn't know who this guard was. "He was tall and had black hair. And his eyes were green, mom, you should've seen them! They looked like the sea!" His own eyes begin to brighten at the thought.

Sally blinks, and her voice falters a little. "Oh…really?"

Percy nods again.

Sally looks over the pool, searching for this "lifeguard". Could it really be him? And if it was, does this mean he was still watching out for Percy?

He gasps as he stopped running and rests against the shower wall by the bathrooms. He looks back around the corner, watching as Sally's eyes wander over the entire pool, and he stares for a couple seconds. Percy begins to follow her gaze, searching the pool as well, and he can't help but feel guilty. He wants to be with them, but the rules were so strict…there was no way possible.

The lifeguard turns back again with his back pressed against the wall and he closes his eyes, getting his breathing under control.

"Hey, dude," there's a sharp tap on his shoulder and his eyes snap open and he moves as if he were trying to grab for his weapon. His trident.

"Whoa, man," there's a scrawny teenager with long locks of surfer-blonde hair. His chest is bare, but he's wearing identical red swim shorts as he's wearing.

"What? What do you want?" He asks roughly, his voice raw.

"I was just gonna tell you that your shift is over now…jeez, take a chill pill, man,"

He will never understand the language of mortals. He shakes his head, though, and he says, "Okay, sorry," and then walks away.

There's no one else in the showers, and he looks over his shoulder to find that that boy is gone, so he takes this time to return to his true form, and back to his home where he belongs: Olympus.

His sea green toga is wrapped around his body once again, and he feels most comfortable without those red shorts. He strolls through the polished and clean marble floors, feeling settled at his home. He's hoping that he could get away with this without being caught.

That is, until thunder booms in the distance.

"You know the rules, Poseidon,"

He thought too soon.

Poseidon turns around and he finds someone he knows too much, wearing a blue toga, and a giant lightning bolt in his hand. He calmly walks towards Poseidon, but the firm frown on his face is how he knows Zeus isn't in a good mood.

"I'm sorry, brother," he dips his head. "I had to; just once,"

"You know what happens when we visit them. They're too powerful with us!" Zeus says through his teeth.

"He's my son—barely even ten years old! What harm could he do?" Poseidon counters back, his voice slightly rising and his hand making an outward motion.

"He is a half-blood. He _will_ cause destruction. Especially when he's got our blood in him."

"I didn't…" Poseidon was at a loss for words. How could he convince Zeus that he didn't do anything wrong?

Zeus gives him a hard stare.

"Why do you punish us with this? He's my only son, already having demons chase after him! And she's got to deal with that as well—"

"Oh, don't tell me you actually _cared_ for that woman!" Zeus spats.

Poseidon lunges forward and grips his toga, bringing him close to his face. Thunder and lightning clash in the distance at contact.

"She is _not_ just 'that woman'." Poseidon says at a threatening tone. "At least I have a heart."

Zeus clenches his jaw. "Are you trying to imply something, brother?"

Poseidon lets go, his eyes a dark and stormy sea. "At least I'm helping my child; not sending them to their death."

"Don't you dare bring her up. Or I'll—"

"You'll what? Kill me?" Poseidon chuckles. "War shan't start again, Zeus, you, of all people, should know that."

"I know. Because it'll start with your son—especially if you keep seeing him!" Zeus points a finger at him, his voice now high with anger. "If I see you near him again, I will banish you."

"Why? Because I take pity on my son? You did, too—for both of you children! So what's the difference?"

Zeus' jaw hardens and he doesn't say anything. He just walks away from him.

"This is only making things worse, you know!" Poseidon calls out to him. "They'll think we're ignoring them! _That_ is what's going to start a war!"

"We're gods, Poseidon." Zeus says without turning back to him. "War is all around us."

"Then why try to stop it? Why not fight it?"

Zeus turns back around and gives Poseidon a straightforward stare. "Because, brother. It doesn't make a difference."

Then he turns his back on him and walks away. Though, this time, he truly is gone.

Poseidon hardens his jaw and he stares at the ground. He blinks and looks up at where Zeus was and says under his breath. "Not if I have anything to do about it," and he turns back to his own way, giving himself a promise that he would do anything in his will to help Percy—to still watch over him. Because, as for right now, that's all he can do.


End file.
